Absent (English)
by konohaflameninja
Summary: What is life like for Roy being a part of Oliver Queen's family? Everyone knows that Green Arrow is not the father of the year. What is it like when someone important in your life is always absent? I own nothing, just the plot of this story.
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a Review or PM telling me your opinion ;D **

**And thank you very much, Loyal As A Book, for helping me checking and editing the translation :) it was not easy, but it was worth it. **

"Damn," a very disgruntled and furious Roy Harper grumbled when he tried to make another call and was notified that his cell phone had run out of credit. He just wanted to ask his father if it would take him much more time to get to the school. He felt somewhat angry with the man, although he really didn't know why he even felt that way, he should have been used to it already; Oliver was always late.

_But this is important, dammit_, thought the boy. He was interrupted by an incoming text message from Oliver:_Go home; I'll see you there in half an__hour,_said the message.

They were staying in the new city just for a few months and he had already told Oliver that he didn't want to go to a new school. There was just one week more of classes and he had already finished the academic year in his previous school. Obviously, Oliver disagreed and insisted that it wasn't like spending one more week in classes would harm him.

"It's not like having some free time would, either. Trying to ignore you is tiring, you know," Roy had replied, but the man paid no attention to the snarky remark.

The house that Oliver had bought was relatively close to a High School and Roy knew then that he would have to attend and once again experience the pleasurable company of naïve, hormone driven, brain-dead teenagers. Oliver said that he would fit right in.

Overnight, Oliver would be back in Star City fighting crime and taking names. In the afternoon his time would be taken up by Queen Industries. Even though he would never admit it, Roy did felt rather intimidated by the idea of attending a new school.

"Fine, but you have to pick me up. I can't walk home if I have no idea where I am," Roy grudgingly accepted his enrollment in school, but only after he realized he couldn't make Oliver change his mind. The worst of all was that Oliver had agreed and promised to uphold his end of the deal. He had agreed, and, for the third consecutive day, Oliver's sports car was missing from the parking lot.

The first day at his new school had been alright for a start. He had met some guys that seemed kind of cool, he arrived on time, didn't get involved in any verbal fight with any teacher… it had been fine, not spectacular, clearly, but fine. The only problem was the departure time. When he texted Oliver, the older man was already on his way. Soon, 15 minutes turned into 40, with Roy waiting alone in the deserted parking lot and no sign of Oliver. When he arrived an hour late, Roy furiously tossed his bag in the back and climbed in the front seat of the car. He really tried to not make a scene, keeping in mind that maybe Oliver had had some kind of difficult day. A suspicion confirmed not too long after boarding the vehicle.

"How did it go?" his father asked him, sounding too distracted and kind of stressed. Maybe Oliver's day hadn't been so difficult after all, but just busy.

Generally, Oliver was an expert pretending to be relaxed and having fun, but right now he didn't seem to care. He looked too serious, like when he was under too much pressure. Roy knew that when Oliver felt like that, his father just wanted to say 'fuck it' to the world, but he couldn't. Instead he just tried to invest all his time in the best possible way.

Roy glanced at the multiple folders scattered on the back seat, all of them were bursting with papers. Oliver looked engrossed in his own thoughts, and Roy knew that look in his eyes; that was the look Oliver put when he was thinking about his work commitments for the day and how to address as many as possible of them in order to not miss anything important. The adult didn't even seem to notice when, on a sharp curve, all the folders moved. Some of them fell off the seat and others tumbled open, scattering papers everywhere.

Yes, definitely a busy day.

"Fine" he answered shortly. Not because he was trying to be discreet about his frustration, it meant he had also decided to pretend that nothing was happening and everything was fine and dandy. He was upset with his father and he had every right to vocalize it, even if he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

He glanced at the man. The older archer was wearing a formal suit, like if he had just gotten out of a business meeting, which was probably true. Oliver's work was so boring, with everyone wearing that kind of formal clothes, no one talking or even smiling, a lot of boring documents to read…. No, definitely not worth it. Sure, people there made a lot of money, but he preferred by far having some fun. He liked wearing jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers. He enjoyed spending the day with his friends or playing his guitar than in a business meeting with a bunch of people whose only interest was making more and more money.

"That's good," Oliver answered distracted, without taking his eyes off the street he was driving to look at his son. "I have a meeting in half an hour at the office. I will leave you at home so you can eat. I left you food on the table; make sure you remove the foil before you put it in the microwave."

Roy released a heavy sigh of defeat. It was always the same with Oliver.

The second day was very much the same. In classes everything was fine, but at the departure time Oliver made him wait an hour just to text him a message, in which he asked Roy to take the city bus and get off the bus a little closer to his home. Just so Oliver didn't have to drive so far. That day they didn't even go home to eat. Oliver asked Roy if he had eaten something at school and although the brief lunch break hadn't allowed him, Roy answered yes, due to his foul mood.

Roy thought that with short answers he could avoid a difficult conversation. The truth was that Roy didn't want to talk or get in any verbal fight, because he knew that when he was angry he could say the most hurtful things, and Oliver was never the one to put up with any kind of lack of respect… at least not at him.

But Roy was still angry, why did Oliver have to be so late? Couldn't he leave his stupid work on time, just for once?

They spent the next few hours looking for another house closer to the High School area, so it would take them less time take to get there from home. After not having very much luck, Oliver decided it had already been enough for one day and instead of continuing to look at houses he headed to his office to pick up some papers and make some calls.

At first, Roy thought Oliver wouldn't take too long in his office, so he waited standing in the door frame. Soon, he realized his mistake, watching how Oliver collected different papers from almost all the folders at the office while talking on his cell phone. Oliver seemed to notice the boy standing there and gestured him to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Roy scowled, rolling his eyes at him. He also had a life, couldn't Oliver remember that? He didn't have all day to stay there in Oliver's office.

"Hold on, wait a minute," Oliver said abruptly to the person he was talking to, covering the phone with his hand. "Hey, don't roll your eyes at me, Roy," he scolded. Oliver almost sounded annoyed at his ward. Then he continued talking on his cell phone.

Roy scowled even more, but said nothing.

Minutes passed, and Oliver just kept talking. As soon as he hung up, he was already dialing another number. Roy was tired of waiting with nothing to do except stare at the ceiling and wish that Oliver finished soon.

The younger archer was so bored! He wished he could text his friends on the Team, but his cell phone had run out of credit and the battery was about to end. He couldn't even listen to any music on the damn thing either. He just couldn't wait to get out of there.

When Roy finally gave up, resigned, and decided to start with his school work, Oliver walked out to the car to go somewhere else to pick up more important papers, barely giving the boy time to follow him. They spent most of the evening driving to different places to pick up more documents of Queen Industries. Even though Roy normally didn't mind going with Oliver if there wasn't any other option, he had homework and they didn't go home until around midnight. Roy was in a foul mood that night, frustrated with Oliver's self-centeredness and obliviousness.

However, nothing could top the current moment. Really? Was Oliver really doing this to him? Roy's anger and frustration slowly deteriorated to resignation as the minutes ticked by.

_Whatever_, he thought and stopped looking at the damn message telling him to go home. The idea had already been haunting his mind after spending an entire hour waiting for Oliver.

Roy took the city bus and walked a long stretch to get to an empty house. That day he did wish there were something to eat, even if it was to reheat in the microwave, since he did not have an opportunity to have lunch during recess. Grumbling, he headed to his room to start his homework that took two to three hours to finish. It took so long mainly because he was doing two days' worth of homework. Although he had been given an exemption from exams by the school, Roy was still required to do the work assigned in class.

Oliver was supposed to arrive over two hours ago already, so Roy texted him to ask him if he was going to come home to eat. He waited several minutes for Oliver's reply.

_No, it's raining here and not safe to drive. I'll see you__later,_Oliver finally answered.

The only good thing was that when he was almost finished with his homework, the woman that helped them clean the kitchen and the house arrived. She was around her 40's and was very cheerful, Roy felt sorry that she was hired to clean just once a week, she would have been a nice company in that cold and lonely house. They chatted while she worked so Roy didn't feel so isolated anymore… until she went home.

_Oliver, are you coming__ home __already?, _Roy asked him by message to see if he would hurry home, no longer caring at all about the little dignity he had remaining.

He hadn't felt so upbeat lately, and the idea of being alone in the new house designed like a catalogue home was not very tempting. Any company, even Oliver Jonas Queen's, was good.

_I'll be done here soon_, Oliver answered.

The boy fought against sleep, despite the fact that he was really tired. Roy needed to be ready to go print his assignment when Oliver arrived, and he even prepared everything on a USB stick in case Ollie had some kind of commitment and had to go out fast.

However, even though Oliver promised that he would not take too long to get home, the minutes turned into hours and yet Roy was still alone.

There was a moment when Roy's loneliness overwhelmed him. He fought back tears of anger and despair, he absolutely refused to cry. In his opinion, Oliver was making a fool of him, and he wasn't any kid who really needed an adult. It was just that it was better than being alone and locked up in the house. Oliver's attitude exasperated him. Why would he say something if he wasn't going to fulfill it, anyways?

His father finally arrived almost around 9 o'clock that night. By then Roy had already walked to a cybercafé to get his assignment printed and had put on the T-shirt and pants he liked to sleep in.

"Hey, I brought dinner" Oliver had the nerve to announce enthusiastically while entering the kitchen. Roy was sitting at the breakfast counter having a bowl of cereal as dinner.

That was the last straw.

"It doesn't matter Oliver, you're too late" Roy answered apathetically. "I already had dinner alone. Just like I was all day long: alone." He stood up and walked toward his room without even finishing his meal.

"Roy, don't be like that, ok? Sometimes things just don't go as we want and that's it, yeah?" Oliver shrugged off his son's anger. "Half a bowl of cereal is not a dinner, so please come to the table to have a family dinner."

"Well, you know what? Families are not just for when you want them. If I'm a nuisance for you or you just don't want me here, then you just have to say it" Roy challenged. He stormed away from the blond man, furious with the situation.

Oliver's astonished eyes followed Roy as he disappeared down the hall. Why would Roy say something like that? Did he really feel that way? It couldn't be just for having arrived late home that day, could it? It was much easier to see it like mood swings that any teenager goes through. Yeah, that was the most likely explanation. After all, it had not been such a big deal, right? He had not done anything really bad, he just arrived a little later than he was supposed to. Perhaps Roy was still upset about going back to school?

Oliver rolled his eyes. What had he done to the boy this time? He didn't even know what Roy was upset about! And the only clue he got was Roy looking at him like saying, "Don't you dare to ask anything you should already know." As if Roy was so easy to live with. If the kid was angry at him, why did he just tell him the reason? Assuming there was a reason… in Oliver's eyes he hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't even be there, what could he have done or said if they didn't even talk? Oliver shook his head, _teenagers_, he thought. The blond man was slightly confused but hungry enough to set aside the issue and start his take out dinner.

"I don't know what I will do with this kid. Sometimes I just don't get him" Oliver groaned, almost offended because of the rudeness of his son.

To be Continued….


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for reading :D and thank you Loyal as a Book for helping me editing the translation! I hope you like it. Please leave Review or PM to make me know what do you think ;)**

Roy turned off the lights and lay down on his bed, unable to ignore the disappointment churning in his stomach. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but that was worse because it made him feel empty… an emptiness that gnawed him. He tried to ignore that feeling and pass out but sleep kept slipping through his fingers like water.

Loneliness was kind of difficult to ignore, Roy discovered after a couple of hours unable to sleep. The situation was completely unfair; Oliver was the jerk here. Roy had no reason to spend a sleepless night as if he deserved to be wallowing in guilt. What was really happening to him? It's not like he was sorry about what he had said earlier, Oliver had been asking for it the whole week! But then, why did he feel so bad? Maybe it was the way he had said it. He was a total expert in using words to keep people away.

Perfect! Pushing Oliver farther from him was the last thing he needed.

He shook his head, trying to make those thoughts go away. He was not the one with the problem here.

Roy sat up on the bed and started squeezing edge of the duvet in a lousy attempt to keep his mind busy, to distract himself from the sensation of his eyes burning… and failing miserably. Damn! He already knew Oliver was an oblivious idiot. He didn't even know why he kept feeling so bad every time the older archer did something like that to him.

_I__bet that pig-headed moron doesn't even care_, Roy thought to remind himself that that was not worth his frustration.

"It's not important, I'm fine alone" he kept repeating to himself, feeling his chest tighten with each shallow breath. By this point he was already struggling to suppress a sob from escaping his throat.

Using his breathing exercises, it didn't take him too long to get back to breathing normally. Closing his mind off to the regrets that gnawed at the back of his head, Roy finally felt his body relax and rolled on to his side, closing his eyes. This time he was tired enough to allow his mind to drift until falling into a dreamless sleep.

Oliver, on the other hand, wasn't too pleased with Roy's surliness that night. However, he couldn't afford the luxury of time to think about it. That night he was planning on driving to Star City for a date with Dinah. He couldn't endure another day without seeing his stunning girlfriend.

After cleaning up the take out, the Emerald Archer left the kitchen and headed for Roy's room. The redhead was curled up on his side, huddled under his blue duvet to ward off the chilly spring air wafting in through the open window.

Oliver slipped in through the door and noiselessly crossed the room to close the window, just in case it started raining again. Once the window was tightly locked, the man walked closer to the bed and kissed his son's forehead before leaving, softly closing the door behind him. He bounded down the stairs by two at a time and headed to the kitchen, where he wrote a note and stuck it on the refrigerator door. He snatched the car keys off the hook by the garage door and left the house, more than anxious to see his girlfriend.

Roy didn't have the best of nights. He rolled out of bed that morning with stiff joints and dark circles under his eyes, feeling exhausted as if instead of sleeping for hours it had been just a few minutes. He really didn't feel like getting up until they were moving back to Star City. At least in Star City he could use the zeta tubes to meet his friends at the Team base, where they could see each other and be themselves. No more of this normal teenager stuff. The biggest disadvantage of being in this boring city was that it didn't have any zeta tubes since no one who made use of them regularly lived here.

The teen slouched out of his room and dragged his bare feet towards the kitchen. Although he was hoping to find even a little of the food Oliver had brought the night before, he doubted he would find much of anything. It was kind of late, so he didn't have time to prepare anything elaborate for breakfast and he highly doubted that Oliver had prepared something either.

Not seeing any food on the breakfast counter, he decided to check in the refrigerator, but the only thing he found was more important than a simple breakfast.

_Typical, fucking typical, _he thought, taking the messily scribbled note off the door. It was obvious the note had been written in a hurry.

Being picked up an hour late from school was somewhat acceptable, being left alone at home all the afternoon was okay, but being sent to hell even before dawn was shameless.

Well, at least Oliver had bothered in leaving a stupid note.

_I hope he didn't get too tired, _the boy sarcastically ranted.

At that moment, the alarm of his cell phone rang again, indicating that there were just 45 minutes left before school started. He took the noisy thing and threw it to one of the couches of the living room. It bounced twice on the cushions before landing face up, buzzing mockingly at him from across the room.

"Fuck it. No way am I going to class today. It's not like anyone gives a shit about what I do with my day, anyways," he muttered bitterly, slumping over the empty table.

And it was true. Oliver could ask him questions like "How was your day?" or "Was school okay?" but he accepted any answer, regardless of how superfluous it was.

With Aunt Thea things were different, mainly because she really listened to him more than anyone, but they could not always see each other as much as he'd like.

Right then, feeling as lonely as he did, calling her sounded like a relatively good idea, but Roy decided not to. He knew that if he called her, he ran the risk of falling apart and losing every fragment of false strength he erected his façade with. If he let that wall collapse, he may not be able to build it up again.

No, contacting Thea was definitely not a feasible option to him at the moment.

He put both hands on his temples, trying to find something to do with his free day.

First of all, he decided there was no reason to stay all day alone at home, so he went to a store near his house and paid off his phone bill with money Oliver had given him for emergencies. He texted the guys he had met in the school and told them that he was alone the whole day, so they eagerly invited him to play hooky with a tour of the hotspots in the city.

Hanging out around the city at in the middle of the day meant going to the fun places like movie theaters, clubs, arcades when they weren't crowded. It also meant skipping school, something that the guys considered as a priceless opportunity.

By 10 am, all of them were already wandering through downtown. Roy glanced at the other guys. They were okay guys with a rough edge. Some of them used drugs or got smashed every weekend at parties. He knew that one of them even snuck some vodka into class in a water bottle. That was the most convenient for him; the less goody they were, the less immoral they'd make him feel. However, it wasn't like he considered them his friends or anything. They barely knew each other and he didn't really trust them. Well, that doesn't mean he couldn't get some joints to smoke later.

The guys had offered to buy him some, telling him to see it as a welcome present. Maybe they thought Roy had never lit up a joint before, so they were surprised when he accepted their offer so easily.

In Star City, his father's morning wasn't so enjoyable. At least it wasn't after Oliver got a call from Roy's school while having breakfast with Dinah.

"Are you sure it's him you're talking about? It could be another boy with a similar name. Roy has no reason to miss school today," he insisted to the woman on the phone, more annoyed at being interrupted than for the ridiculous accusation. "Fine, I'll talk with him to clarify this situation. It's just that I don't think we are talking about the same boy" Oliver jabbed his touch screen to end the call and exhaled heavily, rubbing his forehead to soothe the pounding ache behind his eye.

Dinah, who was sitting across the table from Oliver, looked worriedly at him.

"That was Roy's school, right? Is everything alright with him?"

"The secretary says he didn't attend today," Oliver explained. He was frustrated with the woman for having ruined their breakfast and Dinah's good mood. They hadn't seen each other lately and he would have preferred to spend those moments with her in comfortable companionship. "But that can't be; he's not even sick, so he has no reason to stay home. It just doesn't make sense."

"Call him. Maybe he's not really feeling so well," she suggested with deep consternation. She really cared about the boy.

"I'm sure he's fine", he objected, indifferently. Roy was fine, there was no reason to worry about him.

"And what if he woke up feeling sick? Did he have a good dinner yesterday?" Dinah replied, somewhat upset by the lack of interest her boyfriend was showing in the boy.

Oliver - remembering that Roy had hardly eaten anything last night - decided to make the call.

That was the first of many lost calls from Oliver on Roy's cell phone.


End file.
